A woman tells exactly how she got away from hijackers
Karen Nothnagel tells of the night she thought she was going to die – when she and her husband got hijacked while driving from Table View to Bothasig.
It’s been three days since the harrowing chase, but Nothnagel, 46, said on Tuesday that it was difficult to find the words to describe their nightmare. Two men had picked her and her husband Gean, 44, out as easy targets on Saturday night.
The Nothnagels were driving from Table View towards Bothasig at about 9.45pm. The were travelling along Plattekloof Road where the bridge arches over the N7 when they stopped at a set of red lights.
That’s when a man jumped onto their car bonnet. He started smashing the windscreen. Then there was a thud on the driver’s side of the car.
“I was driving and I looked over. There was this guy just smashing the window,” she said.
Without thinking, she said she continued to drive as fast as she could. She confesses she doesn’t know why as “it just happened. It was instinct.”
As she drove, she spotted the hijackers behind her, starting a car chase. They were leaning out of the window and firing at the Toyota she was driving.
Struggling to steer, Nothnagel felt the impact as the front wheel of the car connected with the concrete island in the road. Then she felt burning along her side, where she was shot.
“My husband was holding on to the steering wheel, directing us towards the circle.”
Nothnagel’s first thought was to make it to the police station, but the hijackers tried to block off the road.
“I drove on to Plattekloof Road. I think they must have given up.”
They arrived at the police station and officers rushed to help her. Within 10 minutes she was transferred to a hospital. The bullet, which had travelled through her body, narrowly missed her vital organs and was halted just below her shoulder blade, will not be removed.
She says she thought, “This is it, I’m going to die.” Luckily she didn’t.
Here are tips for when a hijack occurs.
(Source: IOL News)